I was publicly fat shamed by an easyJet flight attendant – I could have burst into tears, I was absolutely horrified
A WOMAN has called on easyJet staff to have some “sensitivity training” after she was allegedly publicly fat shamed by one of their flight attendants.
Joe Bartholomew took to TikTok to recall the situation, revealing it had taken place on an easyJet flight from Greece to the UK on Wednesday.
Explaining that she had wanted a seat by the window, but was sat next to the toilet, she decided to swap seats with her husband, who was in another row.
“And the male steward looked at me, and I said, ‘I’m just swapping seats with my husband’,” she said.
“And he went, ‘Oh Madam, no, this is an emergency seat, people who need extensions can’t sit there.’
“And I was like, ‘Oh that’s great, thanks for that information, I don’t need one’, sat down, swapped seats.
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“And I sat and I just about held my s**t together for two and a half hours.”
She used the flight time to write down in her phone’s notes section what “was going on” in her head as she was “so upset”.
“I do not know how I didn’t burst into tears,” she continued.
“At least, probably I reckon, four rows of people on both sides of the plane heard it, turned round, looked at me and I’m like, ‘Yes, it’s me, I am fat, thank you very f**king much’, is what I thought in my head.
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“I was so upset that there was no sensitivity and absolute judgment and I hadn’t asked for an extension because I don’t f**king need one.”
Joe continued to explain that her sister used to need a seatbelt extension, and “died of embarrassment” every time she had to ask for one.
“And actually as much as I am fat, I’m obese, morbidly, whatever you want to call it, and I am too big, I am aware, there was a good four inches left on my seatbelt, so there was loads of space left,” she insisted.
Later in the flight, when the flight attendant was on his own, Joe went to speak to him, to make him aware of just how bad he’d made her feel.
However, she said he stuck to what he’d said before about the seat she was going to change into and the extension belts.
“And I said, ‘Look, if you need an extension I would ask for one, and when I do you could have discreetly said in my ear, ‘I’m sorry Madam, these are those seats…'” she said.
“You know, where’s the sensitivity? Where’s the judgement call? Where’s the dignity? I was absolutely horrified.
“And the only reason I’m actually tagging easyJet was that a pilot for BA (British Airways) told me I shouldn’t allow this because other people will be put in the same position if this guy doesn’t learn.
“So please learn.”
Captioning her video, Joe wrote: “If I need an extension belt, I’ll ask for one. Sensitivity training needed #easyjetcrew wake up.”
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When contacted about Joe’s TikTok video, easyJet responded with this statement: “The Safety of our customers is our crew’s highest priority and while it is important that all customers in an emergency exit row are informed of the safety restrictions in place for these seats, we are very sorry that Ms Bartholemew felt this wasn’t communicated sensitively.
“We have been in touch with her to apologise for her experience and thank her for her feedback, which we are looking into with our team to apply these learnings and ensure our customers always receive the warm welcome they have come to expect when they fly with us.”